


Entwined

by shinysylver



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Conversations, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Holding Hands, M/M, Soul Bond, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 06:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13564809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinysylver/pseuds/shinysylver
Summary: Relationships are hard work and finding your soulmate is just the start.





	Entwined

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AggressivelyBisexual](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AggressivelyBisexual/gifts).



> Among the many things my recipient asked for were: a soulmate au, canon based aus, and established relationships. I tried to get all of those into this fic. This is set immediately after the season 8 midseason finale, but in a world where soulmates and bonding are a thing. 
> 
> To my recipient: I hope you enjoy this and that the ending is sweet enough to balance the angst my muse keeps throwing at me. Happy Valentine's Day!! <3

“You have half our gifts. I the other. Together we make a whole. Together we are much more powerful.”  
– Joss Stirling in _Finding Sky_

Paul looked back over Hilltop in the direction of the makeshift prison they’d made for the Saviors he’d insisted they capture. He couldn’t see it clearly from his watch position, but things seemed to have calmed down after Maggie’s… demonstration.

He shook his head and turned back around to face the road. Things were spiraling out of control and trying to deal with it all on his own was making it harder. He and Daryl had only been bonded for a short time, but he’d already grown used to dealing with things together as partners. 

And now he was alone. Again.

Paul looked down at his hand and concentrated until he could see the glowing green thread tied around his smallest finger. It stretched down from the lookout post and ran off into the distance as far as he could see. He’d taken to keeping a close eye on it, always afraid that one day he’d find it unraveling or even worse gone forever. 

In all the stories the bond between soulmates was described as a red thread, but his and Daryl’s had always been green. He didn’t know if that was because they were both men or because Daryl was asexual. Or maybe all the books were wrong and everyone had different colors that matched their personalities. 

Finding your soulmate was rare and since most people kept the personal details of their bonds private very little reliable information was actually out there. The details didn’t matter to Paul though, the only thing he cared about was seeing that their string was still there.

He heard steps on the ladder behind him and turned to see Maggie climbing up to join him. He nodded at her once and turned his attention back to the road and the thread that lead off in the direction of Alexandria. 

Maggie leaned against the wall beside him. She didn’t say anything and as much as he wanted to fix at least one of the relationships in his life, Paul didn’t know how. He understood Maggie’s choices, but he didn’t agree with them.

This war was coming between him and everyone he loved. 

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Maggie said quietly after several minutes. 

Paul cut his eyes to her and saw that she was looking at his hand even though the thread wouldn't be visible to her. Apparently his worries were obvious.

“We fought before he left,” Paul confessed, taking the olive branch she was offering. She was his closest friend and talking to her about this was a step in the right direction. Besides, he’d been holding it in for too long. “It was bad and now he's almost entirely blocked me out. I didn’t think soulmates were supposed to do that.”

He could only sense enough through their bond to know that Daryl was alive. Daryl had been pulling away for weeks—ever since he’d been tortured at Sanctuary—but the door between them had slammed shut after their fight. Daryl had been determined to go on a suicide mission to eliminate Negan and hadn't wanted to hear Paul's opinion on the matter. 

Paul was trying very hard not to take it as a complete rejection of their relationship.

“He’ll be back,” Maggie said with a confidence Paul wished he felt.

“How do you know?”

“Because Glenn would do anything to come back to me and Daryl loves you just as much,” Maggie answered. She rubbed absently at the finger where Paul knew her connection to Glenn had been severed. 

“What color was your thread?” Paul asked before he could stop himself. “I’m sorry you don’t have to answer that.”

“Blue.” Maggie crammed her hands into her pockets as if to get them out of sight. She gave him a thoughtful look. “As a little girl I used to daydream about finding my soulmate, but the reality was so much different. I used to love watching those soulmate movies. You know the ones where once you find each other and bond you get to live happily ever after? They made it seem like nothing bad could ever happen to you. But they lied. Bonding is just the start, you still have to work at the relationship.” She paused and stared off into the distance. “And bad things can definitely happen.”

“Neither of us really knows how to do this,” Paul admitted. “I never thought soulmates were even real. I thought they were just stories people told to kids—like the tooth fairy. Then Daryl tackled me in that field.”

Maggie smiled wryly. “I’m pretty sure Daryl was more surprised than you.” She shook her head. “Give him time, Jesus. He’s never really known how to trust other people.”

Paul sighed. “I’m not the best at it either. But I _am_ trying to believe he’ll come back.” 

He managed stop himself before he added “unlike everyone else in my life” because it would be too pathetic. Growing up in foster care followed by the group home had left him with the skills he needed to survive, but also more than a few abandonment issues. He’d always assumed that keeping people at arms length would protect him, but the moment Daryl’s mind entered his he’d lost that option.

Of course Daryl seemed to be doing a pretty good job of keeping him out these days. 

“He will,” Maggie said firmly. She glanced back out at the horizon and then leaned forward over the fence. “Maybe sooner than you expect.”

She pointed at the tree line and he saw several people moving in their direction. 

They were ambling almost like the dead and he shaded his eyes to see better. Sure enough Daryl was there carrying Judith and according to the feedback from the bond he was very much alive. “It's everyone from Alexandria. What happened?”

Maggie frowned. “I don’t know, but we better get down there.”

Paul nodded, but stayed where he was and reached out with his mind to try and brush against Daryl’s. His walls were still up, but now that they were within sight of each other Paul could pick up some basic emotions, foremost of which was grief. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He pushed his own anger away to deal with later. The sorrow Daryl felt was nearly overwhelming and Paul’s issues could wait. Instead, he focused on the love he felt for Daryl, projecting it along their bond as best he could. Daryl was still closing him out, but if he could sense Daryl’s grief then maybe Daryl would be able to pick up on Paul’s love. 

When he opened his eyes Daryl was standing just outside of the gate looking up at him with a guarded expression on his face. 

“Welcome home,” Paul called down. 

**

Daryl handed Judith off to Maggie and leaned against the fence, watching Paul as he climbed down the ladder. He could still feel the overwhelming wave of love and concern hovering at the back of his mind. It was the last greeting he’d expected after the way he'd left things.

“Hey,” Paul said quietly, stopping a few feet away from Daryl. He seemed hesitant and Daryl hated that he’d done that to him. He’d really made a mess of things. 

Daryl nodded his head once and bit the inside of his cheek to try to stop the tears that were hovering. “It’s all gone wrong.”

Paul shook his head. “Come here.”

Daryl stopped trying to hold himself back and collapsed into Paul, burying his face in the crook of his shoulder and clinging to his shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Paul whispered. Daryl held onto Paul, relieved that at least _he_ was still okay. This war hadn’t taken everyone. After a few minutes Paul pulled back and took Daryl’s hand. “Come on, we need to talk.”

Normally those words would make Daryl head the other way, but he was tired of running so he let Paul lead him back to the trailer they’d shared so briefly before war had broken out.

“Sit down,” Paul said, pointing at the couch. He went into the kitchen and came back with a wet cloth that he used to wipe the soot and sweat off of Daryl’s face. 

Something about that gentle action made Daryl’s carefully built walls crumble and he felt Paul’s presence in his mind fully for the first time since he’d been taken prisoner by Negan. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against Paul’s. 

“Alexandria is gone,” Daryl whispered. _Carl’s gone._ He added through their reopened bond, unable to say the words out loud. _If only I’d listened to you—_

“No,” Paul interrupted his thought before it could fully form. “It’s not your fault. Negan’s the only one to blame.”

Daryl shook his head. It was easy for Paul to say that, but Daryl had been making mistake after mistake for too long.

“We’ve all made mistakes, Daryl,” Paul said, clearly reading Daryl’s thoughts now. He’d always hated that the bond bared everything he was this way, but at the moment he was just glad he didn’t have to actually say the words. 

Paul gestured between the two of them. “Our biggest one was not working together.” He took a deep breath. “I'm sorry I didn't do a better job of listening to what you needed.”

Daryl shook his head. “How could you? I’ve been pushing you away from the beginning. I don’t know how to do this.”

Paul took Daryl’s hand and pressed a kiss to the finger where their thread was tied. “I don’t either. It scares me most days. But it’s also the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Paul’s blue eyes were watery and Daryl could feel a strange mix of shame and hope coming through the bond. “Please don’t block me out like that again. If you need space I’ll give it to you, but having you just gone….”

Daryl suddenly pictured Paul at thirteen being dropped off at the group home after none of the foster families had worked out. It wasn’t his memory, but he felt it as if it was his own—the shame of being unwanted, the anger at being abandoned, and the fear that he was fundamentally unlovable. 

“Paul, no!” Daryl was horrified that his own issues with letting people in had made Paul feel abandoned the same way he had as a child. He’d thought that keeping Paul out was protecting him from the tangled mess of anger and fear that was Daryl's life most days. The last thing he’d wanted was to make Paul feel unwanted. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”

Paul leaned forward and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to Daryl’s lips. 

“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me too,” Daryl said. He leaned back against the sagging couch cushion, pulling Paul with him. He leaned against Paul not wanting any space between them. He didn’t usually like people in his personal space, but Paul was an exception. He was the exception to most of the rules Daryl had made for his life. 

Daryl closed his eyes and concentrated on the cord he could feel connecting them. Unlike Paul, he usually skirted away from it, afraid that he could somehow ruin this thing between them with a wrong thought. It was time to change that.

He wasn’t good at expressing himself in words, never had been, but he could send the love he felt for Paul through the bond. _I never thought I’d find a home with someone else. Thank you. ___

__Paul smiled softly and took Daryl’s hand, twining their fingers together so that the glowing green knots on their fingers were side by side._ _


End file.
